Authors: Ellie Dean
Stan shook his head as he poured the tea into tin mugs. ‘Not in so many words, but she said enough for me to know she was feeling very uneasy about him.’
Ron blew on his tea and took a sip. ‘I don’t really know what you both expect me to do,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I can hardly go up there and accuse him of something like that without being very certain of the facts. Fraser’s an important man in the town, and if this all blows up in my face, I could be facing charges of slander.’
‘I wasn’t suggesting you should do that, Ron – it would be foolhardy to say the least. But perhaps you could just go and have a quiet word with Ruby? Make it clear we both suspect what Fraser is up to and ask her straight out if he’s threatening her in any way. I’m sure that once she realises you’re there to help, she’ll tell you everything.’
‘But I haven’t even met the girl,’ he protested. ‘To be sure, Stan, she’ll not want to be confiding in me, and ’tis a terrible thing we’re accusing that man of. What if we’ve got this all wrong?’
‘Better to be wrong than to do nothing at all,’ replied Stan flatly. ‘There have been a succession of young women leaving that house over the past three years – and it’s pushing coincidence too far when Ruby is already talking about finding another billet after only two weeks. She does her best to hide it, but she’s frightened, Ron, and I can’t rest easy until I know she’s safe.’
Ron finished his tea and thought about it. Stan was astute and in a position to hear all sorts of things. He’d met and talked to Ruby and had sent her to Peggy with that note, in the sure knowledge that Peggy would know what to do for the best. Ron’s first instinct, like Peggy’s, had been to go up there and take the girl home to Beach View – but what if Stan had got the wrong end of the stick and Harold Fraser was innocent?
Ron had never been in this situation before and although he’d never liked the man, and had heard the rumours, he knew how dangerous it was to throw such accusations about.
‘If you were so certain about all this, why didn’t you offer her a bed at your place?’
‘Come on, Ron, think about it. I’m a man on my own in a tiny one-bed cottage. It wouldn’t be right at all. She could sleep in here for another night, I suppose, but then what?’
‘She could go to the billeting people and ask to be moved.’
‘Only if she’s prepared to answer a lot of very awkward questions,’ he replied. ‘Look, Ron, she’s alone, and a stranger to the town. Fraser is an important man in Cliffehaven, and the odds are she won’t be believed – and she’s bright enough to know that.’
‘Aye, you could be right,’ Ron murmured.
‘What if it was your Cissy in that situation, Ron? What would you do then?’
‘Rumours or not, I’d have her out of there in an instant.’ He held Stan’s gaze and knew then what he must do. ‘I’ll go up and talk to her,’ he said on a sigh, ‘but God help the both of us if you’re wrong, Stan.’
‘God help the girl if I’m not,’ he said flatly. He pulled the fob watch from his waistcoat pocket and checked the time. ‘I’ll come with you after I’ve dealt with the troop train. Should only take about an hour.’
‘You see to the train and I’ll deal with Fraser,’ Ron rumbled as he set down the empty mug and rose from the canvas stool.
Stan shook his hand. ‘Thanks, old friend. I knew the Reilly family would come up trumps.’
Ron pulled his cap over his ears and turned up the collar of his tweed jacket against the wind that tore up from the sea through the open door. ‘We’ve yet to see the cards we’re playing with, Stan,’ he said grimly. ‘But this will be dealt with tonight, you can be sure of that.’
With Harvey trotting along at his heels, he left the station and set off over the small humpback bridge and up the hill to Nelson Street. He was fully focussed on his mission now, determined to get to the bottom of this very worrying and distasteful situation with Fraser and to do what he could to put things right for Ruby.
It was very quiet up here under the hills, and his footfalls echoed as Harvey padded alongside him. Then he thought he heard a thin, high scream cut short, and looked at the dog. Harvey had heard it too and was standing stiff-legged, ears cocked.
Ron dismissed it as probably just some animal that had been caught by a fox, and was about to continue when he heard it again. The cry was definitely human, short and sharp and full of fear – but again cut brutally short.
Harvey was already standing outside Mon Repos, a growl deep in his throat as he pawed at the door.
Ron stilled and hushed him with a gentle hand, and listened keenly to the sounds of some sort of struggle coming from the other side of the door. He eased the letter box open and looked into a hallway dimly lit from a nearby room.
One glance was enough. He stood back and with one mighty kick the door flew open. Before Fraser had time to react, Ron had grasped his collar, hauled him off the girl and punched him hard on his already bloody nose.
Harold Fraser slid down the wall and slumped to the floor, his trousers around his ankles.
Harvey growled deep in his throat as he stood over him, his snarling muzzle inches from that bloodied face.
Ruby had scuttled away from Harold and was curled up in a corner, sobbing so hard she couldn’t speak.
Ron sat on the floor beside her and tenderly gathered her into his arms. She clung to him in abject distress and relief, her small body trembling. ‘There, there,’ he soothed. ‘It’s all right, acushla. He’ll not be hurting you any more.’
He continued to cradle her while Harvey kept Fraser pinned to the wall and Ruby’s tears and terrors were slowly soothed.
‘He tried . . . He tried to . . .’ she sobbed against his jacket lapel. ‘But how did you know? Who are you?’
‘I know what he was trying to do,’ he said grimly, ‘and I’m here because Stan and Peggy knew you needed help.’ He gave a tremulous sigh. ‘And thanks be to God that I listened to them,’ he murmured. ‘There there, you’re safe now. He won’t be touching you ever again.’
Her heartbreaking sobs stuttered to a halt eventually, but he could feel the tremors running through her little body as she continued to cling to him. She was like a frightened bird in his arms, and his rage at Fraser was a white-hot furnace building inside him.
Ruby slowly calmed enough to take his rather grubby handkerchief and blow her nose. She gently withdrew from his embrace and looked back at him with large green eyes that were still haunted and swimming with tears. ‘Thank you for saving me,’ she breathed tremulously. ‘But who are you?’
‘I’m Ronan Reilly, Peggy’s father-in-law, and I’ve come to take you home to Beach View where you’ll be safe.’ He saw her tear-stained face brighten and the torment in her eyes replaced by hope, and his soft old heart melted. ‘Why don’t you go and clean yourself up and collect your things, Ruby?’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ll wait down here for you.’
With his help, Ruby managed to get to her feet, and Ron watched with an ache in his heart as she straightened her torn dress and slowly dragged her way up the stairs. She was such a little thing, but she’d fought bravely. It was only by sheer chance that he’d been in time to save her.
He turned to look at Harold, who was weeping with pain and trying desperately to haul up his trousers and stem the flow of blood from his broken nose as Harvey continued to snarl in his face. It took all his years of specialist army training for Ron to hold in his rage and resist beating the bastard to a pulp. He watched him snivelling and cringing, and then clenched his fists and stepped closer. ‘If you’re not out of this town by the end of the week the authorities will know what kind of man you really are,’ he said, his voice dark with menace.
‘That’s blackmail,’ whined Harold. ‘And no one would believe you anyway.’
‘They will by the time I’ve finished,’ he growled. ‘The Mayor and I fought together on the Somme, and he knows me as a truthful man.’ He saw Fraser’s smirk of disbelief and kicked the bandaged foot.
Fraser howled in pain and curled up on the floor as Harvey continued to straddle him, his lips drawn back in a snarl to show wickedly sharp teeth.
‘The rumours about you can easily be stoked again,’ continued Ron. ‘A few words in the right ears and the whole town will know what a fat, perverted little shite you really are.’ He stepped closer, the toe of his boot hovering less than an inch from the bandaged foot. ‘You’re finished in this town, Fraser.’
‘But I can’t just leave,’ he protested, his eyes wild with fear and pain. ‘What about my wife and this house?’
‘You should have thought about that before you started molesting young girls,’ Ron said coldly. ‘You’ve got until the end of the week – and that is not negotiable.’
Ruby emerged at the top of the stairs carrying a large pannier basket. She’d changed into a pair of trousers, a sweater and thick boots, and was clutching a red rosebud. Her little face was wan beneath the angry carpet burns, and she had to cling to the bannisters to steady her way down to the hall, but she seemed calmer.
Ron picked up the coat and gas-mask box which had been strewn across the floor in the struggle.
Ruby burst into tears again as she saw the blood on the sleeve and the tear in the silky lining. ‘My lovely coat,’ she sobbed. ‘He’s ruined it.’
‘To be sure, we’ll soon have that clean and mended,’ Ron soothed as he helped with the coat and gave her a swift, reassuring hug. ‘As long as you’re in one piece, that’s all that matters.’
She looked back at him with her large, sad green eyes. ‘He didn’t . . . You know.’
Ron was glad to hear it, but he still felt a murderous rage over Fraser’s attack, and knew that if they didn’t leave immediately, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
‘Come, Harvey,’ he ordered. ‘Our work’s finished here.’ He took the basket from Ruby and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm to steady her as Harvey gave one last growl and followed them out into the street.
Ruby was still in shock as she clung to Mr Reilly’s arm. She forced one foot in front of the other as they slowly walked down Nelson Street, the lovely, brave dog padding along beside them. Every part of her was aching and she knew there were bruises and carpet burns on her legs and arms, and on her face, but what hurt most of all was the knowledge that yet again she’d been a victim.
Was there something about her that attracted violent men? She had to conclude that there must be, but she was tired of fighting, sick of always being on the end of an angry fist or preyed on by randy bastards like Fraser. Her life seemed to be one long catalogue of disasters, from her violent stepfather, to her vicious husband – and now this. So much for a new life and a new beginning, she thought with despair.
They reached the station, but a troop train must have just arrived, for the ladies of the WVS had set up a mobile canteen and the whole area was swamped with young soldiers and sailors enjoying cigarettes and hot cups of tea. There was no sign of Stan, and for that she was grateful. She burned with shame at the thought of his seeing her like this – and of his knowing what Fraser had tried to do. And yet his kindness had saved her and tomorrow, when she felt more able to think coherently, she would come and thank him for bringing Mr Reilly to her rescue.
They didn’t go straight down the High Street, which would have meant having to pass through the crowds that still spilled over the pavements, but through narrow, dark lanes she hadn’t noticed before. She had to keep stopping to rest, for her legs felt like jelly and her head was swimming. Mr Reilly, bless him, had offered to carry her, but she was determined to make her own way. He’d done enough for one night.
As they eventually reached Camden Road and began to head east, the moon came from behind the clouds and drenched everything in a pale blue light. There had been little time to really look at her saviour before they’d left the house, and she’d simply had the impression of someone sturdy, square and strong, whose arms shielded her and whose voice soothed.
Now, as she examined him in the moonlight, she could see that her good Samaritan was far from the storybook knight in shining armour – but was, in fact, a rather scruffy, well-built man, probably in his sixties, with a grizzled chin, wayward eyebrows and the soft lilt of Ireland in his speech. It didn’t matter a jot that he wasn’t young and handsome or riding a white horse, for he reminded her of her father, and it was the solid, reliable comfort of a father figure that she needed right now.
Ruby felt the dog’s wet nose snuffle into the palm of her hand as they walked slowly down Camden Road, and for the first time in what felt like hours, she smiled. The man and his dog were well matched, for they were both rather scruffy, and yet she found that lovely and reassuring.
‘That’s the Anchor,’ said Ron. ‘I’m in charge there while my friend Rosie Braithwaite is away. These shops are where Peggy’s registered her ration books. Fred the Fish and Alf the butcher are mates of mine, so they are, and there’s often a wee treat for the tea table or a bone for Harvey.’
‘My food stamps,’ Ruby gasped. ‘I left them in the kitchen.’
‘To be sure, they’ll have to stay there,’ he said gruffly. ‘Neither of us will be going back.’
Ruby shivered at the thought of ever going into that house again.
‘Let’s sit and catch our breath,’ Ron said as they came to a bombed-out house where only a few walls and part of the garden wall were still standing. ‘I can tell you’re finding all this walking a struggle and there are things I need to warn you about before we get to Beach View.’
Ruby tensed as she perched on the rough stone. She’d known this was too good to be true.
He must have read her thoughts, for he smiled and patted her hand. ‘To be sure, ’tis nothing too serious, but you see there hasn’t been much time to warn everyone that you’re coming, and I don’t want you getting upset when Doris starts in on us.’
Ruby was still wary as he set about filling his pipe. ‘Who’s Doris?’
‘She’s Peggy’s older sister and a bit of a dragon if the truth be told,’ he said round the pipe stem. ‘She moved in with us two weeks ago without invitation and is likely to cause a fuss about a new lodger moving in. Now, I don’t want you to take heed of any of her nonsense. I know how to deal with Doris.’